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the dispute between top anchor simba and xiao yangge, which lasted for nearly half a month, finally came to an end with the live broadcast function of simba's live broadcast room being banned and consumers who bought suspected problematic products in xiao yangge's live broadcast room sharing the 100 million "industry consolation money" provided by xinxuan.

simba (left) and xiao yangge (right). image source: live broadcast room of both parties

in addition to traffic anxiety, the fight between top anchors caused by a crab is also a struggle for bargaining power in the supply chain. since wei ya and li jiaqi "hard fight" with l'oreal, the game between top anchors and brands has never stopped in order to gain the competitive advantage of "the lowest price on the entire network", and fights between platform anchors have also occurred from time to time.

recently, when simba and xiao yangge were fighting fiercely, jiupai finance interviewed a number of brands who had direct or indirect interactions with these top anchors. through their perspective, we can take a look at the fierce battle for the anchors' bargaining power behind this fight.

【1】streamers compete for the “lowest price on the entire network”

song jing, a business development staff member of a food brand, said, "last year on the same period last year, li jiaqi brought us more than 7 million yuan, but this year it is only around 1 million yuan, and we can only make 200,000 to 300,000 yuan per event. as a result, the prepared goods cannot be sold, and the inventory pressure is very high."

according to sanyancha data, xiao yangge, who has 122 million fans, has sold goods worth 2.316 billion yuan in the past 360 days, down about 26% from last year's 3.1123 billion yuan; simba's sales during the 618 shopping festival this year also shrunk by almost half compared with last year.

lin li, a business development staff member of a beauty brand live broadcast, told jiupai finance that for first- and second-generation anchors such as xiao yangge and xinxuan, in addition to the 100,000 yuan slot fee, the 20% commission is their important income. the total transaction volume has been cut in half, which also means that the commission has been cut in half. therefore, the top anchors have asked brands to increase discounts to subsidize consumers.

today, simba and xiao yangge are very demanding about the "lowest price on the entire network." a business person from a jewelry brand told jiupai finance reporter: "xinxuan has a special pricing department that will examine the profit margin and is very strict. every time we make a quotation, it is rejected and we have to revise it several times in each round."

song jing told the jiupai finance reporter: "in an environment where the sales of top anchors have been cut in half, they all attach great importance to whether they can get the 'lowest price'. when discussing cooperation, price comparison across the entire network is a necessary process. for example, three sheep once asked us to give a lower price than li jiaqi; or, if the price is the same, give a higher slot fee of 100,000 yuan and a higher commission."

but the importance of top anchors to platforms and brands is decreasing.

lin li believes that the traffic push mechanism of each platform is like "no flower lasts forever", and each platform is trying to reduce its dependence on top anchors. it is not just the top anchors who are eager for low prices, but any anchor.

brands are also trying to reduce their reliance on top anchors, and "brand store broadcasts" are catching up. according to the "2023 china live e-commerce industry research report", the scale of china's live e-commerce market will reach 4.9 trillion yuan in 2023, of which "store broadcasts" account for 51.8%, and "expert live broadcasts" have dropped to 48.2%.

song jing said, "now douyin is full of all kinds of live broadcasts around the clock. brands are building their own live broadcast rooms and cultivating anchors. customers can buy low-priced products from "store broadcasts" or low-priced products subsidized by e-commerce platforms on a daily basis. naturally, there is no need to wait for the live broadcasts of big anchors."

【2】brands and top anchors “unbind”

compared with the previous rush to get into the top live broadcast rooms, brands now pay more attention to weighing the risk of losses in cooperation with top anchors. song jing revealed that his company did not cooperate with three sheep in the end because of xiao yangge's high slot fee of 100,000 yuan and the "lowest price on the entire network".

"we are currently working with top anchors and can accept a certain degree of 'losses'. our sales department is simply trying to meet the performance targets given by the company; at the company level, it's a bit like advertising, spending money to get publicity. but if the losses are too great, it won't work."

lin li believes that nowadays brands are trying to avoid being too closely tied to a particular anchor. otherwise, once the cooperative relationship with the anchor deteriorates, the overall sales will be halved.

however, top anchors are still valuable to brands at present.

first, it is difficult to find pure commission experts with good results. song jing said, "no matter how much they decline, they are still the top. although we prefer pure commission experts, we still have to hire a team and spend energy to find them."

second, it can be a supplement to store live broadcasting. lin li told jiupai finance reporter: "even for brands whose store live broadcasting sales are larger than that of live broadcasting, influencers are still a sales channel that cannot be ignored. during the flat sales period, stores need to broadcast themselves to cover the bottom line, and during the big promotion period, they still have to rely on the live broadcasting room of influencers to achieve explosive sales."

(at the request of the interviewees, song jing,lin liis a pseudonym)